Lea in the Arizona Daily Star

Lea in the Arizona Daily Star

Lea in the Arizona Daily Star

The Arizona Daily Star

By Lea Marquez Peterson

07/29/2018

I’ve called Southern Arizona home for over 40 years, and I’m passionate about our district. For the past nine years, I’ve had the honor of serving as president & CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber, and I’ve proven to be an effective advocate and problem solver for Southern Arizona. During this time, I’ve led the chamber through incredible growth from about 300-member businesses to over 1,800 currently. I’m proud that it’s now the largest Chamber of Commerce in Southern Arizona with offices in Sierra Vista, Douglas and Nogales. I believe strongly that we need more people in Washington that come from business backgrounds and fewer career politicians.

I’m running for Congress to help improve our regional economy, making sure we’re not left behind while Maricopa County grows. I’m running to support our military infrastructure that accounts for over 5 billion in economic activity in our region, and I’m running to ensure our communities are safe. Border security is important for Southern Arizona, especially our border communities. I support an “all of the above” approach at our southern border. We must protect our citizens, and I support building a wall where we can, increased surveillance technology and more Border Patrol. Meanwhile, our border sheriffs need more resources to protect their communities and aid our Border Patrol. We also must reform our immigration system and I support a legal solution for our “dreamers” that does not include amnesty.